We have strived to champion the importance of stepping stones into the horror genre on the show. Adolescent age-appropriate games within the horror sphere are less concerned with gore and guts and more focused on atmosphere and relationships. A formula that Night School Studios more or less perfected in 2016 with Oxenfree.
In returning to Edwards Island for the first time since the game’s release, Oxenfree is a strong example of twee horror. The game emphasizes character relationships just as much as the game’s lo-fi analog haunting. The intuitive dialogue branching system allows the momentum of uncovering mysteries of the island never to slow, while the player can have an active say in which conversations they wish to influence.
Oxenfree was and remains the game that convinced me to give more games not aimed at my age group a shot. My high school days may be long behind me, but it’s a testament to Oxenfree’s personable writing, engrossing vibes, and involving mystery that I devoured on my recent play-through.
For this week’s episode, Neil and I unpack these design elements and more in our return to the original Oxenfree before tackling the recently released sequel Oxenfree II: Lost Signals next week.
And in this week’s Horror Bytes, we discuss Head-biting alien horror in Crabjuice and a low-fi slasher in American Eristics.
Safe Room is a weekly horror video game discussion podcast with new episodes every Monday on additional streaming services, iTunes/Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Linktree.
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